Hospitality hoped for better news It’s been grim but now let the good trims roll
MAXINE barrie manages the banana Moon bar on Glasgow’s Great Western Road. She feels the hospitality sector should be allowed to reopen sooner than April 26.
Pubs and bars will be able to welcome back customers in six weeks’ time – but alcohol will only be able to be served outdoors and customer numbers will be limited.
“It’s hard for everybody but especially for businesses that don’t have outdoor seating,” she told the Record. “We have bench seating outdoors which makes it difficult to separate groups. We have four tables, which is absolutely nothing. but we’ll have to work with it. Last time we offered 90-minute slots, which is hard to manage.
“Having spoken to other people in the hospitality industry, there was a feeling we would be offered better news.
“This lockdown has been 100 per cent harder for everybody. And the longer it goes on, the more money you lose. We have six members of staff on furlough.
“We had just taken in £6500 of stock before we had to close the last time. Some of it went back to suppliers but a lot was wasted.”
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the Scottish beer & Pub Association, said: “Today’s announcement is a step in the right direction, but many hospitality businesses will be left disappointed.
“No alcohol service indoors and closure at 8pm makes trading entirely unviable for many businesses, meaning the earliest they will be able to open is May 17.”
The longer it goes on, the more we lose
MAXINE BARRIE ON WAIT TO REOPEN
FRUSTRATED
Nicky McAvennie
HAIRDRESSERS and barbers will open their doors from April 5 under the Scottish Government plans – but beauty salons offering “close contact” treatments will have to wait until April 26.
Carolyn Jarvie has worked as a hairdresser for 30 years and runs The barber Too shop in Hyndland, Glasgow. She said her phone had been “red hot” with people asking for appointments in the wake of the First Minister’s statement.
“I’m glad to be reopening and I’m already booked out on April 5,” she said. “but I think hairdressers could have remained open safely because they had everything in place. Everybody’s business has been impacted. you’re effectively starting a business from scratch if you’ve been shut down that length of time. “People fall out of the routine of doing anything. you have customers who are loyal to the business but they fall out of the way of getting haircuts.”
Nicky McAvennie is the owner of Nicky’s beauty Spot in the east end of Glasgow. While hairdressers can open, beauty salons must stay shut until April 26.
“There’s a lot of confusion over why we have to stay closed while hairdressers can open before,” she said. “It’s frustrating. We want to be able to open sooner.”
You’re effectively starting from scratch CAROLYN JARVIE HAIRDRESSER